It’s 3.13 am and I’ve just got in from the Scottish Traditional Music Awards in Edinburgh. One or two highlights for me, but the best was seeing Paddy Moloney inducted into the Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame.
The show was big and flashy, so to see the man standing there on his own wi his wee whistle and hearing the beautiful air he played (something to do with sorrow - sorry, it’s late) and watch that audience completely spellbound was something I’ll treasure for a long long time.
For sure. The last time I saw the Chieftains on television they did a close up on Paddy Moloney between tunes, while everyone was getting ready for the next one, and Paddy was pulling out a whistle from under his chair. The close up showed clearly that he was holding a Sindt. It was just like my Sindt D except that his played better than mine does.
Mike
A much deserved honor for Paddy. I don’t think any other single man is more responsible for sharing the music of his culture with the rest of the world. I had the pleasure of seeing the Chieftains perform earlier this year (my first time) and it was without a doubt the greatest musical performance I have ever witnessed. I am on a neverending quest to acquire all of their cd’s… so far I’m up to about 11 albums on cd’s, and I’ve got five other albums on vinyl. I only hope that they will be around long enough to make it to Arizona again. It was a sad day when they lost Derek Bell, hopefully Paddy and the rest of 'em still have many years left in them.
There’s a kind of intellectual snobbery going around that diminishes the contribution of the Chietains and Paddy. They’ve been so big that it was bound to happen.
Yes. We have that here too, judging by the snorts of derision I hear when I tell people about the awards, never mind the hall of fame! And some of these people should know better.
I believe that great music will out and show us all.
